Chapter 12

"Are you okay?" Ning Cheng had just asked when Ji Luofei stumbled. Ning Cheng quickly stepped forward to support her. Ji Luofei's body was soft and fragrant, but it carried a faint scent of blood.

Without waiting for Ning Cheng to continue his inquiry, Ji Luofei pushed him away and said, "I'm fine. I'll go rest for a while and come out to talk to you later."

Saying this, Ji Luofei entered the adjacent room on her own.

Ning Cheng looked at his palm and saw a faint trace of blood.

Ning Cheng instantly understood that Ji Luofei was injured. His hand had been supporting her back, indicating that her injury was on her back.

Looking at Ji Luofei's room, Ning Cheng hesitated for a moment but did not go in. Ji Luofei was at the third level of Qi Gathering, with cultivation far higher than his, showing that the Cang Qin Two Stars Academy was not a safe place.

...

Ji Luofei was drawn out by the aroma of the food. She had changed into a new set of clothes. Ning Cheng noticed that after resting for a while, her complexion was no longer as pale as before.

"Did you make this?" Ji Luofei looked at the four dishes and one soup on the small wooden table, asking in surprise. In her memory, when did Ning Cheng learn to cook? And the food looked so appetizing?

Ning Cheng smiled, "Of course I did. Come and eat."

Ji Luofei was clearly not a talkative person. Although Ning Cheng's cooking skills surprised her, she did not ask more. Whether it was because Ning Cheng's food was delicious or because she was really hungry, she ate several bowls of rice and still felt unsatisfied.

After finishing the meal, Ning Cheng quickly got up to clear the dishes.

"Wait." Ji Luofei stopped Ning Cheng, "I'll clean these up later. You haven't done this before..."

Ji Luofei realized her words were problematic before she finished. If Ning Cheng hadn't done this before, how could he cook such delicious food?

She quickly corrected herself, "Sit down first. I have something to tell you."

After Ning Cheng sat down, Ji Luofei took out two ancient, thin leather scrolls and handed them to Ning Cheng, saying, "These are from your grandfather. He asked me to give them to you in the future. Now that you have successfully gathered Qi, you should be able to have them."

Ning Cheng silently took the two thin scrolls, knowing exactly what they were. His grandfather, although doting on him, knew what kind of person he was. These scrolls must be the Ning family's inherited cultivation techniques, which he left for Ji Luofei to pass on. The reason Ji Luofei gave him the scrolls was not because he had gathered Qi, but because he was no longer the same Ning Cheng as before.

Seeing Ning Cheng put away the scrolls, Ji Luofei sighed in relief, as if she was glad to have completed a task. She then took out a wooden box and handed it to Ning Cheng, saying, "This contains a Qi Gathering Stone. Take it for cultivation."

Ning Cheng, no longer a novice, knew the value of a Qi Gathering Stone. One Qi Gathering Stone was equivalent to one hundred gold coins, and this was the surface price. In reality, one hundred gold coins could not buy a Qi Gathering Stone. Even the Ning family did not have many. Ning Cheng immediately refused, "Luofei, I have already gathered Qi. You are at the third level of Qi Gathering, which is when you need the Qi Gathering Stone the most. You don't need to give it to me."

Ji Luofei forcefully pushed the wooden box into Ning Cheng's hands, "Take it. You know I'm at the third level of Qi Gathering. With my talent, I will soon leave the Cang Qin Two Stars Academy. In the future, you will have to rely on yourself..."

Hearing Ji Luofei's words, Ning Cheng no longer refused the wooden box. He put it away and sighed, "Luofei, I was not very mature in the past. If I made you angry, please forgive me. You know my talent is not good. You will leave Cang Qin in the future, and we may never meet again. Fortunately, we are only engaged and not yet married. After you reach the fourth level of Qi Gathering, we will be from different worlds. Let's consider the engagement null and void. You have been wronged in the Ning family for these years..."

If the Ning residence had not been turned to ashes, Ning Cheng would have even returned the engagement.

Ji Luofei looked at Ning Cheng in a daze. She never expected him to say such things. But she knew what he said was true. Once she left Cang Qin, she would never see Ning Cheng again.

"My life was saved by Grandfather Ning. Without him, I wouldn't be here. What you said might be true. After I leave Cang Qin, we will never meet again. Moreover, I am already disfigured, so our marriage is not realistic. But I also know the principle of loyalty. The engagement was set by Grandfather Ning and my grandfather. Without their words, I cannot dissolve it. Just take care of yourself in the future. I cannot stay by your side for life."

Ji Luofei finished speaking, stood up, and carried a few bowls into the low kitchen. She knew what Ning Cheng said was true. After she left Cang Qin, she and Ning Cheng would never meet again. With her talent, staying to take care of Ning Cheng would only hasten his death. Now that Ning Cheng had reached the first level of Qi Gathering, regardless of the reason, it brought some comfort to Ji Luofei.

Ning Cheng, incredibly smart, could not fail to understand Ji Luofei's meaning. He knew she would leave Cang Qin and might not see him again. By proposing to dissolve the engagement, he was ensuring she had no lingering thoughts. After all, Ji Luofei had saved his life, and the only help he could offer was this. Now that she disagreed, he did not want to say more.

Ning Cheng returned to his room and immediately took out the Qi Gathering Stone. He had a memory of the Qi Gathering Stone but had never seen one. Now that Ji Luofei had given him the stone, he wanted to know what it was and why it was so valuable. One hundred gold coins could buy a Qi Gathering Stone, but it was not always available, making the price quite high.

The moment Ning Cheng took out the Qi Gathering Stone, Ji Luofei sensed it. She glanced at Ning Cheng's room and a smile appeared on her lips. Although Ning Cheng no longer had the air of a spoiled rich kid, he still had some childlike qualities. He said he didn't want the Qi Gathering Stone, but he took it out immediately.

Ning Cheng, unaware of Ji Luofei's perception, felt disappointed when he saw a simple dark yellow stone. The stone seemed to contain a lot of spiritual energy, but Ning Cheng felt this energy was incomparable to what he sensed during cultivation.

Putting away the Qi Gathering Stone, Ning Cheng took out the two thin scrolls. One scroll introduced the history of the Ning family, and the other contained the Ning family's cultivation techniques.

After reading the first scroll, Ning Cheng had a more detailed and intuitive understanding of the world he was in. Cang Qin was just a small vassal state in Pingzhou, and Pingzhou was just a corner of the Yi Star Continent.

The Yi Star Continent had nine major regions, and Pingzhou had the least spiritual energy, with most of its countries being human realms, making it a low-level region.

The forces on the Yi Star Continent were complex. Since the Ning family had only produced one cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage, they did not have a deep understanding of the entire Yi Star Continent. From the scroll, Ning Cheng learned that the main forces in the low-level regions were the True Kingdoms, vassal states, academies, families, and some low-level sects.

Academies and True Kingdoms were the strongest forces the Ning family knew. Each True Kingdom had many vassal states, which were divided into three levels, with the third level being the highest. A first-level vassal state was essentially a human realm, with at most some ordinary martial cultivators.

Cang Qin was just a first-level vassal state. If it were not for the second-level academy in Cang Qin, it would be equivalent to a human realm.

Academies were different. In the low-level regions, the highest-level academy was a five-star academy. In the low-level regions, a three-star academy was equivalent to a three-star vassal state. If a True Kingdom had a five-star academy, the academy would be above the True Kingdom.

The scroll also had a note at the end, stating that there were legends of nine-star academies on the Yi Star Continent, but the Ning family had not produced any high-level cultivators, so they could not confirm if this was true.

Closing the scroll, Ning Cheng slowly exhaled. He still did not know how vast the Yi Star Continent was, but from the scroll, he could guess it was immense. Even Cang Qin was probably just a speck of dust on the Yi Star Continent.

The Ning family had produced a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage, but they still could not leave the low-level region of the Yi Star Continent. This showed how naive his previous thought of returning to Earth after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage was.

The Ning family could stand in Cang Qin because they had served the king of Cang Qin for generations. Even so, when the Ning family was destroyed in the capital, the king of Cang Qin did not say a word.

Even though Ning Cheng came from Earth, he was extremely dissatisfied. The king of Cang Qin was cold and unfeeling, not worth serving.

The second scroll, as Ning Cheng expected, contained the Ning family's cultivation techniques. The first sentence read, "This is a top-tier human-level cultivation technique." Ning Cheng felt disappointed. Even the best was still a human-level technique. The scroll detailed the nine levels of Qi Gathering and included some annotations.

Ning Cheng looked at the beginning, which was roughly the same as the first level of the technique he remembered. He tried the method described in the scroll, and a warm current of energy suddenly rose from his dantian. Ning Cheng was startled and was about to stop, but a new meridian energy flow path suddenly appeared in his mind.

This new energy flow path was clearly different from what was described in the Ning family's technique. Ning Cheng felt that if he followed this new method to guide the energy, the effect would be better.

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